Cornwall Council members have recommended £850,000 should be used to fund additional services to help rough sleepers off the streets.

The recommendation to use Cornwall Housing Ltd reserves is subject to formal approval from its Board.

Latest figures show that Cornwall continues to see relatively high numbers of rough sleepers. 

The latest estimate of the number of rough sleepers in Cornwall on a typical night in November 2016, was 99 – a significant increase on the 65 reported the previous year. 

A successful bid to the Government’s Rough Sleeper Programme has provided around £290,000 to deliver a ‘No First Night Out’ approach which includes Cornwall Housing, St Petroc’s and Coastline working together to prevent people from having to sleep rough in the first place.

Cornwall Housing has already committed additional funding of £80,000 to ’maximise and sustain’ what it says are ’the many positive outcomes’ from the St Petroc’s temporary night shelter provision which runs from mid-December to mid-February and is supported with officer time by Cornwall Housing, Addaction, Stonham and Coastline Homelessness service.

This additional £850,000 will support the work that is going into producing a long term Rough Sleeper Prevention Strategy.

Members of the public who have concerns about a rough sleeper in their area should go to the Streetlink website (www.streetlink.org.uk).